Free Museum Interpreter program begins April 3

Owls Head — Join the volunteer team at the Owls Head Transportation Museum by becoming a tour guide, or just learn more about the collection. Get to know the collection of ground vehicles, aircraft, engines and more through the Museum Interpreter Course beginning Thursday, April 3. This six-part course is taught by Museum Curator and Education Director Ethan Yankura and is free to the public.

The series will present the collection in thematic units, ranging from horse drawn and human powered vehicles through powered flight and mass production. The series is perfect for the individual who is interested in learning more about transportation history and the Museum’s collection, for current Museum volunteers who want to be better prepared to answer questions about the collection or for those interested in serving as Museum Interpreters, operating on the Museum floor answering visitors’ questions. The training is also perfect for those interested in becoming tour guides, leading groups through the Museum. Classes will meet at 9:30 a.m. on Thursdays for the duration of the term.

The following areas of our collection will be covered during the course, handouts and materials are provided.

April 3, Part I – Wheels, Bicycles and Carriages, precursors to powered transportation. Focusing on transportation and technology before the advent and popularization of the gasoline engine.

Wheels exhibit

Carriages

Boneshaker

Harvard

Star

Safety

Ladies bicycle

April 10, Part II – Engines. Utilizing the Museum’s Engine room and collection of operational engines, the progression from steam to gas engines will be explored, as will developments in both forms of power.

Newcomen

Slide valve cutaway

Corliss and cutaway

Penney with shaft

Locomobile

Otto

Clerget and rotaries

Allison Turbojet

Wankel

GE Turbofan

April 17, Part III – Age of Autos pt. 1. Beginning with the 1885 Benz Patent Motorwagen and 1903 Mercedes Simplex, the birth of an industry and the accompanying growing pains will be addressed.

1885 Benz

1903 Mercedes

1902 Oldsmobile

1904 Stanley

1905 Panhard Levassor

May 1, Part IV – Age of Autos pt. 2. With the Ford Model T, the automobile was becoming a household item. The industry was changing radically and the world’s opinion of and dependence on the car was changing just as quickly.

1907 Cadillac

Ford Model T

1908 Sears Motorbuggy

1909 DeDion Bouton

1912 Woods Electric

1913 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

May 8, Part V – Dawn of Flight. Man has dreamed of flying for thousands of years, but did not really accomplish flight until just over one hundred years ago. The Museum’s collection of gliders serves as the backdrop, leading to the Museum’s full-sized reproduction of the Wright Brothers’ famous Flyer.

George Cayley

Alphonse Penaud

Otto Lilienthal

Octave Shanute

Ornithopter

Hiram Maxim

Wright Brothers

Bleriot

May 15, Part VI – Progress in Aviation. Just like the automobile, the airplane took several years to catch on as a viable mode of transportation, but once it did, manufacturers sprang up around the world. This session looks at developments in aviation as represented by our flying collection of planes.

Farman

Curtiss Pusher

Deperdussin

Taube

Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny)

Sopwith Pup

Standard J-1

For further information, or to sign up for the course, please contact Ethan Yankura at 594-4418 or by email at ey@ohtm.org.